Review: Bloodshot Salvation #8

“In the realm of the dead, three travelers now seek salvation. Bloodshot – a man remade as a weapon. Bloodhound – an innocent creature imbued with formidable power. And Baby Jessie – Bloodshot’s infant daughter, newly transformed in his own terrible image. Together, these three have all been damned by fate – an injustice they now seek to undo by striking a demonic pact to save Jessie’s life. But in the underworld known as the Deadside, there are few fair deals and even fewer promises fulfilled… With his weapons laid down, can Bloodshot tip the scales of life and death to save the one precious light his existence has ever offered?”

Without beating around the bush, I honestly didn’t think Jeff Lemire could top the ambitiousness of the previous issue with its all black pages and no art but the borders. Frankly, it’s an example of what comics are capable of – for some it fell flat, and that’s okay, but for others it was a masterpiece. Bloodshot Salvation #8 doesn’t have the same impact, nor is it as ambitious as the previous issue. But what it is, however, is an utterly brilliant comic.

While Bloodshot travels the Deadside in a poorly conceived plan to (somehow) save his daughter, Ninjak and Magic are waiting in the real world for Bloodshot, Jessie and Bloodhound to return. This leads to one of my favourite lines I’ve read in any comic in years, and given my love of tea it shouldn’t come as any surprise which line it is. Dividing the comic between the real world and the Deadside allows Lemire to use a double sidd approach to showing each parent’s individual struggle with their daughter’s illness: Magic’s exasperation at Bloodshot’s choice, and Bloodshot’s very real struggle against the beasties in the Deadside.

When it comes to the art, Renato Guedes produces a haunting and vibrant comic that never quite allows you to feel comfortable. Whether it’s the emotional battering you’ll receive from Magic’s emotional presence or the adrenaline fueled moments of Bloodshot fighting a horde of demons, there is nothing I could possibly say against this comic’s art. Each and every page is worthy of hanging in an art gallery, and we’re getting them for $4. It’s wonderful.

Bloodshot Salvation #8 had a hell of a task to match up to the previous issue, but it’s a task the comic meets with a nanite fueled punch in the eye. You won’t read a better comic this week.

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